


falling slowly

by orphan_account



Category: JBJ (Band), Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Crossover Pairings, Fluff, M/M, Slice of Life, Songfic, Talent Shows, best friends!kenggyun, my rarest rarepair but they are important to me, soft soft soft soft and a tiny bit of angst but soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 11:42:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13680990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: i don't know you (but i want you all the more for that)[a songfic]





	falling slowly

**Author's Note:**

> a valentine's present for [marie](http://twitter.com/ultmarie) ♡  
> this is a pairing that accidentally happened in an AU, and this is an AU of that AU, so ... AU-ception ??  
> this is my first time writing anything like this, i've never considered doing a songfic before _or_ something so mind-numbingly soft but i figured that it's a good concept to try for valentine's day.  
>  sorry if there are any typos, i wrote this in like five hours OTL 
> 
> disclaimer: the college setting is totally based on my (admittedly americanized) view of college/university and not necessarily accurate at all to how south korean post-secondary works at all so i'm sorry for that!!

The snow is finally melting, flowers are starting to bloom, spring is around the corner and with their exams left behind them, many of the students at Jaisan University have begun to prepare for one of the school's most popular fund-raising events: the talent show. People of all ages, from every program, come together once a year to showcase examples of the school's best talents. The show, put on for one night only in April, showcases performances ranging from dance covers to rock bands, poetry to stand-up comedy and every kind of student is given an equal opportunity to sign up and compete for first, second or third place.

For the four years that Kenta has spent at this school, he's always wanted to join in, but he's always ended up wimping out. His best friend, Sanggyun, always tries to push him into it when spring comes around but even so, Kenta has never found the courage.

He wants to try this year, though. Last time, Kenta watched from the audience as a first-year and second-year took first place with an acoustic guitar duet that mesmerized the whole school. Though Kenta knows his vocals aren't as strong as Jeong Sewoon or Kim Jaehwan, he felt inspired, rather than discouraged. He remembers Sanggyun nudging him with an elbow as they applauded, saying something along the lines of  _you could totally do that_ and Kenta had waved a hand at him to shush him, but he couldn't help but imagine himself on that stage instead.

Standing outside of Practise Room B, Kenta rocks a little on his heels. His guitar hanging on his back, he fidgets nervously with the strap of the guitar case across his chest as he stares at the poster in front of him. A simple, but colourfully decorated poster outlines the details of this year's show, with a plain-looking sign-up sheet stapled under it. Exhaling lightly through his nose, Kenta leans in, clicking his pen as he readies himself to sign one of the last empty boxes, underneath a hastily scrawled-out  _Ong Seongwoo_ and Kenta pauses as he recognizes it as the name as one of the other students in his year. Kenta remembers his performance from last year, an intense monologue from a Shakespeare play that moved half of the audience (himself included) to tears. He ended up winning third place — he's popular and talented and Kenta doesn't doubt that he'll do well this year, as well.

Kenta chews the inside of his cheek, eyes flicking up to scan the rest of the sheet. He recognizes a few names, but not many. He sees the name of one of his only younger friends, Kim Donghan, as well as a few others from his classes, but most of the people are first and second-years who Kenta has never interacted with.

Traveling up the list, his gaze stops on a name that, despite being crossed-out, is easily recognizable.

~~_Hwang Minhyun._ ~~

Kenta's heart skips a beat, like it always does when he is reminded of the existence of Hwang Minhyun. Kenta is hardly the first, or the last person to have a soul-destroying crush on the fourth-year captain of the fencing team, but Sanggyun would argue that his is the cheesiest, most ridiculous and, probably, the most unrealistic of all of them.

It's been long enough that you would think the butterflies in his stomach would have flown away by now — but he's still just as embarrassing as he's been since the beginning. At least an hour of every day is dedicated to Kenta thinking about him, ranting about him to his best friends, freaking out over seeing him in the hallway, et cetera; they have one philosophy class together but Kenta deliberately assigned himself a seat on the opposite side of the lecture hall to try to stop himself from getting distracted. (It didn't work.)

Sanggyun calls him hopeless, and Kenta can't really protest. Not only are they in completely different social circles, but Minhyun is about fifty kilometers out of his league and the only time Minhyun has ever said a word to him was three and a half years ago.

"Woah..." Kenta has never seen him participate in the talent show, so it's a bit of a shock to see that he was signed up; but it doesn't matter now anyway since it's scribbled out, the third spot taken by another person's name now instead. Kenta furrows his brows a little, wondering about the story behind it — but he supposes he'll never know. It won't stop him from being curious about what he was planning to perform, though.

Staring up at Minhyun's name, he's suddenly even more nervous than before. Minhyun initially writing his own name down here means that he's at least acknowledged the existence of the talent show and therefore, there is now proof that there's a chance that he'll be in the audience watching. The hand holding Kenta's pen lowers as anxiety bubbles up in his stomach.The thought of performing in front of a bunch of people is hard enough without considering that Minhyun will be watching him, too.

If he wimps out over this, Sanggyun will kill him. Besides, if he can perform something nice, maybe this is his chance to get Minhyun to notice him at least once before they graduate... 

Sucking in another breath, he steels himself and quickly scribbles his  _Takada Kenta_ under Seongwoo's name before stepping to the side to duck into the practise room. 

 

* * *

 

Kenta strums loosely, humming the melody softly as his gaze runs over the sheet music. The ballad he's chosen is relatively unknown, from a romantic musical where all the songs are performed live, with acoustic instruments. It's technically a duet - for two voices, a guitar and a piano but as Kenta goes through it, he tries to arrange it in his mind to sound good enough for a solo performance. 

He's been told that his voice is sweet, nice to listen to, but not necessarily powerful enough for such an emotional song — but the chords and strumming patterns are simple enough that he can play it well, which will hopefully make up for it. 

Kenta tentatively sings a bar, tongue carefully pronouncing each syllable. He strums gently along for a while, and then stops, pressing his lips together. It doesn't sound like it's supposed to. Kenta is not bad, himself, but the song doesn't sound the same without the piano, or the accompanying voice that's supposed to be there. 

_Maybe I should ask Yongguk after all,_ he thinks. When he picked the song, he originally thought about asking his friend to sing with him, but Kenta knows him well enough to know what he'll say.  _In front of_ how  _many people?_ Though it's not a secret that Yongguk can sing well, he's even more stage-shy than Kenta. 

Kenta taking his guitar off his lap and leaning it against the side of the piano next to him. He pulls out his phone, unravels his headphones and plugs them in as he decides to listen through the song for the millionth time that day. He closes his eyes, exhaling a little as he tries to focus. 

A few minutes later, the song finishes. When Kenta opens his eyes again, he sees the form of someone tall standing next to the piano. Kenta jumps out of his skin, falling backwards off of his stool. 

_"Be careful!-"_

Kenta does manage to catch himself, but one of his leg swings up a little and knocks over the music stand in front of him, sending his music flying. As Kenta sits up, he sees the stranger crouching now, gathering the papers into his arms. Kenta mumbles a little "oh, you don't have to-" but he cuts himself off when he recognizes the smooth brown haircut of the person in front of him. His eyes grow wide. 

Hwang Minhyun stands up again, and then he's smiling slightly - gaze pointed directly at Kenta. 

Kenta's heart rate instantly starts going at a thousand beats per minute.  _Oh no oh no oh no oh no,_ his brain screams at him, and then he kicks himself. Minhyun — Hwang  _Minhyun!!_ — is looking at him expectantly, quirking his head a little as Kenta continues to remain silent. 

"Sorry, I got scared," Kenta finally answers, his voice weak. "Y-You, um, when did you get in here?" 

If Minhyun notices the way he's blushing, he doesn't say anything. He looks perfectly calm — (perfectly  _perfect,_ Kenta thinks dreamily) — and at ease, contrasting the havoc being wrecked in Kenta's heart and mind. 

"Oh, just now. I came in to look for something my friend says he left - have you seen a squirtle-shaped bag by any chance?"

A what? Kenta shakes his head slowly, swallowing hard as he feels forced to break eye contact, instead staring ahead, right through Minhyun's black turtleneck.  _He has officially  said three sentences to me,_ he thinks.  _Sanggyun is going to lose it._

"I'm sorry for startling you. I waited until I couldn't hear you playing, but you didn't hear me knock..."

Kenta's gaze snaps up to Minhyun's face, his eyes wide again.  _Oh God._ Minhyun heard him playing? He was out there waiting in the hall - for how long?! 

Kenta just shrugs in response, dying a little. 

Can he get up and run away, or is that rude? Should he stay quiet until Minhyun leaves, or should he be trying to hold a conversation? He's never been this tongue-tied in his life. The last time they spoke, it was because Kenta had a harder time understanding their Korean professor and Minhyun translated a couple lessons for him. Kenta wasn't even that good at Korean back then, but he still has a harder time speaking to him now. 

"Are you practising for the talent show? It sounded like a pretty song," he presses on, and Kenta makes another mental tally mark.  _Five sentences._

It's then that Kenta realizes Minhyun is still holding his music. He stares as Minhyun pulls out the piano bench and takes a seat, apparently opting to stay instead of leaving. He's not looking at Kenta now, but he's looking at the sheets of paper, curiosity in his gaze. "It's a duet... Do you have someone playing this with you?"

Kenta clears his throat a little and finally replies, his voice sounding somewhat meek. "No," he says, then hesitates. "I'm trying to arrange it to sound good for one person." 

"Mm," Minhyun answers, leafing through the pages. "This part doesn't look too hard." 

Kenta keeps staring. From where he's sitting, he's facing the piano - he can see Minhyun's side profile clearly as he sets the music on the front of the piano. 

"Can I hear it?" Minhyun asks without looking at him, but it sends Kenta's heart into a flurry again. "I only heard a little bit outside. I'm curious about what the rest sounds like."

There is no way, absolutely  _no way_ this is happening. Kenta wordlessly pinches his arm, checking if he's dreaming. Unfortunately, nothing happens, and he's left to face the most difficult decision in his entire life. 

"Uh," Kenta stammers, "I really haven't practised that much yet, I don't think I should-" 

"It's fine if you're too shy," Minhyun says then, glancing at him. "I won't pressure you." 

Kenta's theory about Hwang Minhyun being the Nicest Person on Earth just might be coming true. He makes a mental note to wail to Sanggyun about it as soon as he possibly can. 

Minhyun is waiting for him to answer, his hands resting politely in his lap. Kenta fidgets again, this time with the end of his sleeve. He has two options: he can say no, let Minhyun leave, and avoid making himself look like a loser in front of his crush, or he can try to play what he knows, and maybe,  _maybe,_ it'll win him some more of Minhyun's attention.

Either way, after this moment Minhyun will probably never speak to him again. It's up to Kenta whether or not he can make this moment memorable enough for him to at least cross Minhyun's mind again someday.

He silently takes in a deep breath, and then nods as he breathes out. "I'll try it," he says, a little breathy. "Just don't- don't judge if it sounds bad, okay?" 

Minhyun smiles at him again, and Kenta's chest hurts. Kenta tears his gaze away. 

Since he technically has the song memorized, he doesn't ask Minhyun for the sheet music back. He leans down, picking up his guitar from where it was lying on an angle against the piano in front of his knees and folds his legs to balance the guitar on his lap again, easily finding the first position. He stares at the empty music stand in front of him, heart racing as he counts silently in his head.  _One.. two.. three.. four._

He starts of by plucking out the intro, the strings humming out he melody of the first verse. Kenta stalls, repeating the first bar one more time than he's supposed to, trying to calm his nerves before he starts singing. Feeling Minhyun's eyes on him, he closes his eyes. Kenta's voice is quiet, and not very stable as he sings out the first few lines. 

 

_"I don't know you_  
_But I want you_  
_All the more for tha_ t _"_

 

His eyes snap open as he gets to the end of the bar, alarmed by the sound of soft notes coming from the piano. Kenta sees that Minhyun is no longer looking at him, but at the sheet music in front of him instead. His hands are positioned over the piano, playing the accompaniment.  _Don't die, don't die Kenta, keep going,_ he tells himself, as he swallows past the lump in his throat and continues strumming.

 

_"Words fall through me_  
_And always fool me_  
_And I can't react-_ "

 

He realizes a couple seconds too late that a higher-pitched, sweet voice is singing along with him, making Kenta choke on his words. 

Minhyun is singing with him. 

_Minhyun_ is  _singing_ with him.

Still without looking at Kenta, he's following the duet part, reading the harmony off of the page as he tinkers out the notes on the piano. His voice is light, heart-achingly pretty just like everything else about him and Kenta wants to stop playing so that he can just listen to him.

But something pushes him to keep going, and he does, letting his eyes close again as he continues.

The music swells in a mini-crescendo going into the chorus, Kenta strumming wider, faster and more boldly as he watches Minhyun's hands dance expertly across the piano. Minhyun's singing remains soft, but Kenta tries to sing louder, more clearly. 

 

_"Take this sinking boat,  
And point it home  
_ _We've still got time..."_

As they play through the rest of the song, Kenta becomes more and more comfortable. Minhyun's voice cascades perfectly around his, the sound of the piano pushing the important notes forward and giving Kenta the confidence to sing more strongly. Minhyun looks at him once, on one of the off-beats, and they share a small smile. By the time they reach the end of the song, most of Kenta's anxiety has ceased to exist for the moment, and he forgets about everything leading up to this and everything coming after because all that matters is the music and Minhyun — coming to the end of the song almost makes him sad, like it shouldn't be over yet. 

But it does end, and though Kenta rides on the high for a few more seconds, the moment fades out along with the last note. 

"Wow," Minhyun says, his speaking voice sounding softer as well. "It really does sound nice with the piano." 

He looks happy, while Kenta is still having a hard time processing what just happened. 

"Why did you sing with me?" Kenta says suddenly, then feels slightly sheepish. "I mean, it was good. I really, really like your voice, but-"  _Shit._ Kenta flusters a little as he realizes he's said too much. 

Minhyun looks at him, but doesn't answer him at first. Then: "The lyrics were interesting and the harmony looked like it was fun to sing..." He pauses. "Are you sure you want to perform this by yourself?"

Though Kenta had felt a little more relaxed during the song, the reality of the situation starts to sink in again as Minhyun leans back, stretching his arms out. He hadn't spoken to him in literal  _years_ , and now suddenly they've not only had a full-blown conversation but Minhyun has just played a  _duet_ with him. Kenta went from hoping Minhyun would be in the audience to see him play to literally sharing with him one of the most emotional things Kenta could have ever come up with. Sanggyun is never going to believe it — Kenta wouldn't, if it was the other way around. 

_Does Minhyun do this with everyone?_   He wonders. Kenta knows Minhyun popular - while Kenta himself hovers on the outer social circles, Minhyun is near the center. Maybe he does this all the time, barging into practise rooms and playing with whoever he wants because everyone already knows his name and face anyway, and it's just another day for him while this is a moment that Kenta has been waiting for for  _three years_ and Minhyun could ever understand the gravity of what just happened. 

Minhyun still probably doesn't even know his name. 

A new ache forms in Kenta's chest. 

"I have to go, sorry," Kenta says, standing up suddenly. Minhyun watches him pack his guitar case, offering him a little goodbye as Kenta practically runs out of the room. 

 

* * *

 

"See? I  _told_ you to go for it," Sanggyun is pointing a chopstick at him, jabbing it in the air excitedly. "You literally had the most Disney-channel moment ever and it's totally because of me, the world's bestest best friend and  _you're welcome._ " 

Kenta shoots him a look. But again, Sanggyun isn't entirely wrong. Kenta supposes he can let him take credit for this one. 

Kenta looks down at his food, picking at it a little. Sanggyun notices his sulkiness and raises his eyebrows.

"What's wrong with you? You should be talking a mile a minute right now."

"I don't know," Kenta answers. "I guess it's just sad that it happened and was over so quickly. I still don't think he even remembers who I am." 

Sanggyun scoops some more noodles into his mouth. "You've got a class with him."

"I know, but-" Kenta reflects back on their school year so far. Minhyun sits all the way near the front, surrounded by his other 95-liner friends. Kenta almost always sees him either looking serious and paying close attention to the lesson, or laughing at the rowdy antics of his friends. It's a big class, so he and Kenta have never even made eye contact, let alone spoken. He pouts his lips out a little. "I don't know how to get his attention without embarrassing myself."

Sanggyun reaches across the table, patting the back of his hand. "There, there. Senpai will notice you eventually. Especially if you perform at that show - then you can sing while looking into his eyes and make him fall in love with you and then you can walk out into the crowd, kiss him passionately, everyone will cry and you'll win a Grammy." 

Kenta wrinkles his nose, but he can't help the small smile forming on his lips. Sanggyun, who was watching him closely, smiles triumphantly as soon as he notices this. Even in his class-clown-ish, roundabout way Sanggyun's jokes are always meant to lighten Kenta's mood because he worries whenever Kenta feels sad. Honestly speaking, Kenta isn't sure where he'd be without him. 

"Thanks, Sanggyun." 

 

* * *

 

When Kenta returns to the practise room the next day, he's shocked to find Minhyun perched on the piano bench again. 

It takes Kenta a full twenty seconds to recover from the shock of seeing him up close for the second time in a row.

"Uh, looking for something again?" Kenta asks tentatively, with his hand still stuck on the door handle.

Minhyun shakes his head. 

"Oh. Then why are you here?"

"To practise." He pauses. "If you haven't found somebody else yet..."

Kenta's heart skips another beat. If Minhyun doesn't stop being  _Minhyun_ in his proximity any time soon then Kenta's going to go into cardiac arrest, he thinks.

Kenta doesn't know what to say. Although having him around is setting all of his nerves on fire, he likes having him around. Minhyun, sitting there in another perfectly-fitted dark sweater, has Kenta's sheet music still in front of him and it becomes obvious what he's implying. 

"You want... to play with me? For the show?" Kenta feels a little bit light-headed. 

Minhyun nods, and weirdly, Kenta sees almost a shy look coming over his face. "If you don't mind?" He drums his fingers on the closed piano lid, a soft smile playing at his lips. "I think we have enough chemistry, don't you?" 

A chorus of  _'oh my god'_ s and  _'aaaaaa_ 's fills Kenta's brain and he tries his best to give a cool nod, but it's too fast, way too eager. "Okay! Yeah. That's great. Cool!" 

Minhyun smiles at him. "Cool," he repeats. 

Some more ' _aaaa_ 's join the chorus.

Fighting every instinct to run away, Kenta clicks the door shut behind him, letting the guitar case slide off his shoulder. Nervously, as Kenta sets everything up he starts to babble, about how he wanted a duet partner but couldn't convince one of his friends, about how it's his first time on the show and how much he likes this song and _then_ he even mentions that he saw Minhyun's name crossed out, and what was that about? Minhyun listens comfortably to his stories, offering short answers here and there, though weirdly, he tenses visibly when Kenta mentions seeing his name on the list. He explains it — Kenta learns that Minhyun wanted to play piano for the show originally, but couldn't pick a song to play so he crossed himself out. 

Talking to Minhyun isn't as hard as he thought. When he's distracted tuning his guitar or rifling through his bag, it comes naturally, just like it did when they worked together all those years ago; it's only when he really thinks about the situation that he starts to panic again, stumbling all over his words. 

"Is there anyone you're thinking of when you're singing this?" Minhyun asks suddenly, throwing Kenta completely for a loop. "You sounded so emotional when you were singing it yesterday, there must be a reason," his tone is light, only mildly curious. There's no way he could know how easily his words make Kenta's heart hurt. 

Kenta stares at him with slightly widened eyes for a second, then shakes his head vigorously. 

Minhyun peers at him, looking somewhat amused. "If you say so." 

Before he embarrasses himself too badly, Kenta asks to start the song and Minhyun agrees. They play the song even better this time now that both know what to expect, and at the end, they're both smiling - Kenta, unable to hide his goofy grin while Minhyun is smiling too, more with his eyes than anything but Kenta can feel the warmth radiating off of him. 

They play through it a few more times, stopping here and there to work over tougher parts, conducting a proper rehearsal. The time goes by too quickly, and when he has to leave again Kenta isn't in a hurry this time. He slings his guitar over his shoulder, waving at Minhyun as he goes to open the door.

Minhyun waves back at him. "See you tomorrow, Kenta."

_He still knows my name?_ The three-year-old butterflies go wild in his stomach, but Kenta just answers with a quiet 'bye' and takes off again.

He doesn't stop smiling to himself for the next hour. 

 

* * *

  
As Kenta predicted, they don't really interact outside of those rehearsals. He should be grateful just to have this, but that dull ache in his chest grows from the minute he leaves the practise room to the minute he comes back. He updates Sanggyun whenever he sees him, because Sanggyun is almost as excited to hear about the budding friendship as Kenta could ever be. And the song, which was originally a symbol of Kenta's hopeless pining gains a new significance to him. Minhyun's honey-like voice plays in Kenta's ears wherever he goes, and he sees his smile behind his eyelids.

He is, as Sanggyun would say, whipped. 

Kenta would just say he's falling slowly. 

 

* * *

  
_"Falling slowly,_  
_Eyes that know me,_  
_And I can't go back"_

 

Weeks of preparation — or years, depending on how you look at it — have led up to this moment, Kenta finally taking the stage with guitar in hand and the object of his obsessions following after him. 

They take their places. The piano is positioned off-center, one microphone standing in the middle with Kenta's stool off to the side, and another mic attached to the front of the piano for Minhyun.

They might not look like the most likely pair: Kenta with his many ear piercings, red plaid shirt and torn jeans, the tattoo on his ankle poking out — and then there's Minhyun, looking like the definition of elegant and classy in a simple white button-up and black pants. They're two completely different people from completely different walks of life but as their voices rise and fall together in harmony, they melt together perfectly.

They perform their song as if it's just them in the practise room; it's like no one else is there. As Kenta plays, he switches between having his eyes closed and sneaking glances at Minhyun, who is playing just as passionately and harmonizing just as beautifully as he has since the beginning. Kenta is obviously nervous to the point where his hand is trembling and threatening to slip up on his guitar strings, but seeing Minhyun look so perfectly at ease calms him.

As he closes his eyes again, he thinks of Minhyun, reflects on those years of pining and then the moment that flipped everything around. He feels a surge of emotion coming up from his chest and it shows in the way he sings, making his voice stronger.

 

_"Take this sinking boat,_  
And point it home  
We've still got time  
Raise your hopeful voice,  
You have a choice  
You'll make it now... _"_

 

There's a moment of silence when they finish, and then applause. Heart pounding, Kenta smiles at the audience, leaning forward to offer a little "thank you" into the mic and then he slides off his stool, at the same time as Minhyun gets up off his bench. Kenta starts to head toward the exit when he suddenly feels a hand on his.

He looks over in alarm, and sees Minhyun looking at him. "We should bow," Minhyun says for only him to hear, a twinkle in his eye. Kenta's face burns, but the stage lights are bright enough that it's impossible to see. Kenta is pretty sure that his hand is clammy and gross but Minhyun holds onto it anyway, as they both turn around and bow at the waist. People are still clapping, and Kenta can hear some of his friends cheering. 

Minhyun's hand lingers in his for a little longer than necessary — or maybe Kenta is just imagining it. 

 

* * *

 

The contestants are all led to the same room backstage to wait for the end of the show. They can hear each performance, and the emcees getting to the end of the list and then, at the very end, the audience is to pass their anonymous ballots down the line. 

Kenta is still buzzing, and Minhyun sitting next to him looks pretty happy too. A few different friends of Minhyun's have already performed as well, and they come over to congratulate him (and Kenta, by extension) on their duet. Most of them hug Minhyun and shake Kenta's hand, but Ong Seongwoo hugs them both at the same time, leaving Kenta feeling a bit flustered.

Donghan, who had just performed a dance cover right after them comes over as well, making Kenta stand up to give him a bear hug. The sweaty boy nearly squeezes the life out of him out of excitement, spinning him around like a ragdoll and Kenta starts smacking his arm with his palm and complaining, but he's grinning.  When Donghan puts him down, Kenta glances over and sees Minhyun watching them with an unreadable expression. 

Donghan sees Kenta's gaze and turns around, startling Minhyun a little, but the older student politely smiles as Donghan sticks out his hand for a shake. "Hi, I'm hyung's bodyguard. Have you been treating him well?"

Kenta is alarmed. He's obviously joking, but Kenta doesn't trust his intentions — he knows about his crush, if he remembers Kenta telling him a couple months ago, anyway, which makes this meeting dangerous. He tugs at the back of Donghan's sleeve but Donghan doesn't budge, shaking Minhyun's hand as Minhyun smiles. 

"Of course," he responds, as classy as ever. It takes every ounce of Kenta's willpower not to let himself swoon. 

Thankfully, Donghan leaves them after a minute to go back to Jihoon, his dance partner, as they all wait for the end of the concert to come. There's only a few more acts left — they listen through a magic trick performance, a trot cover of Twice's Likey, and then, finally, a three-song performance by the school's jazz band. When the audience quiets down, the emcee asks them to write their first, second and third choices and then the rustle of papers can be heard as their ballots are passed down through the rows. 

Kenta isn't all that anxious to hear about the winners. He doesn't expect anything, because even though he thinks they did well there are too many talented performers at this school, and, though they didn't perform this year he's sure everyone remembers Jaehwan and Sewoon's acoustic cover last year — Kenta could never expect to compare. 

There's a long five or six minutes as volunteers hurry to tally up the audience's boats, with the emcee trying to entertain the guests with a few lame jokes. After a while, Kenta hears him say "Are you ready?" and a chorus of cheers sounds out. 

Kenta looks at Minhyun side-long. He's engaged in conversation now with Seongwoo, who had returned to tell a dramatic story about people that Kenta doesn't know; Minhyun is nodding along and laughing, not paying any attention to Kenta which gives him the opportunity to watch him without fear. He studies his face for the thousandth time, up closer than he ever dreamed he would've been. Kenta's heart feels soft as he admires Minhyun's pretty eyes, his cheekbones — even the slope of his neck is pretty. Kenta casts his gaze away, looking at the ground.

He can't help but feel sad. He was so lucky to have this opportunity, but he knows it'll never happen again. It's a moment he'll hold onto forever but that doesn't alleviate the heartache he feels when he realizes that they'll probably just go back to the way things were before because even though Kenta  _wants_ to become real friends with Minhyun outside of this, he doesn't know how. 

_"Third place goes to..."_

Snapped out of his thoughts, Kenta perks his head up to listen to the emcee again. 

_"Ong Seongwoo, with his stand-up comedy routine!"_

The whole backstage room erupts into applause, as Seongwoo's hands fly to his mouth in a gasp. A sea of Seongwoo's friends comes forth to hug him, pat him on the back, ruffle his hair, et cetera; and Minhyun stands up to join them. Kenta watches, clapping and smiling along. 

They push Seongwoo back out toward the stage, where he's meant to take his little trophy and wait for the other winners. 

Minhyun is still standing with the others as the emcee begins to announce the second-place act. 

_"And second place goes to... Takada Kenta and Hwang Minhyun, with their cover of 'Falling Slowly'!"_

Kenta's mouth falls open. Minhyun looks shocked too, even as the other contestants around them start cheering and hugging him just as much as Seongwoo. Someone pulls Kenta to his feet and hugs him and Kenta can hear Donghan screaming wildly for him off to the side. 

Minhyun and Kenta don't get much of a chance to say anything to each other before they're pushed back onto the stage. They come through the curtains and Minhyun waves at the crowd, while Kenta just stands there frozen, probably looking pretty dumb until Minhyun nudges him gently in the back, indicating for him to take the trophy. 

It's a little silver-coloured star, and it's light, probably made out of plastic but Kenta doesn't really care. He's trembling, and Minhyun must have noticed because a moment later, Kenta feels a hand rest lightly on his back as if to comfort him.  _Okay. Okay, fine, this is fine!_

Though the stage lights threaten to blind him, when Kenta pulls away he Kenta can see Sanggyun, Taehyun, Hyunbin and Yongguk jumping around like children in the third row. Kenta might be hearing things, but he swears he can hear Sanggyun's voice yelling _"GET IT! That's my BOY!"_ and Kenta can't help the happy, cheesy smile growing on his face knowing that all of his friends are here to see this moment. 

The group of friends completely loses it in the audience when the first place winner is announced:  _Kim Donghan and Park Jihoon with their dance cover of Blood, Sweat and Tears!_ and Kenta almost drops his statue as he claps wildly for his friend. Donghan comes to stand on Kenta's left side, looking completely shocked, but happy. Kenta nudges him and points out their friends screaming in the audience, and Donghan looks embarrassed, but he smiles and waves.

The five finalists bow together, and then head backstage again. 

* * *

 

Kenta gets separated from Minhyun at some point while on his way to find his guitar in the room where volunteers moved the instruments and equipment until the end of the show. As he steps over a cello, an amplifier and someone's magic hat, Kenta's smile from earlier slips off of his face.

He's worried that he won't get a chance to thank Minhyun before their life goes back to normal. He doesn't think Minhyun realizes how much he's done for him just by performing with him. That, and Kenta is yearning, just a little, to be able to tell Minhyun how he feels. Tonight might be his only chance, if he doesn't want to chase Minhyun down during a normal school day and probably embarrass them both. Kenta chews his bottom lip as he locates his guitar, steps gingerly over to where it's leaning and picks it up, standing straight as he lets it rest on his back again.

As if he could read his mind, Minhyun clears his throat behind him. Kenta nearly trips on a cord, catching himself before he turns around.

"Oh, sorry, did I scare you again?" Minhyun looks genuinely concerned. Kenta shakes his head, hoping Minhyun doesn't notice how tightly he's clutching the trophy in both of his hands. 

"I'm glad I found you. Do you have a minute?" 

As Kenta looks at him, he answers in his thoughts:  _you could have a million of my minutes._ "Yeah, um, of course, what's up?"

"I just wanted to say congratulations. You did really well."

Even though Kenta knows the performance was good he can't help the way his ears are burning at Minhyun complimenting him. "You did well too," he says, which makes Minhyun's lips curve up a little.

"Thank you." There's a bit of an awkward silence. Minhyun seems like he has more to say, though Kenta can't imagine what that could be. Shifting a little on his feet, Kenta watches him, willing his stomach to stop fluttering at nothing.

Would he ever get used to Minhyun speaking to him like this? Probably not. Three years of nonstop daydreaming and yearning for someone who, for the most part, didn't know he exist comes together and makes it hard for Kenta to process that he's really real, he's really here, and he's really looking at Kenta so intently that Kenta feels like he's  _way too close_ even though they're still three feet away from each other. 

"Is that it...?" Kenta asks somewhat awkwardly, not meaning to sound rude but he can tell something is troubling the other and he can't seem to get it out. 

"No. I, ah, it's just," Minhyun stutters a little. Hwang Minhyun... is  _stuttering?_ "What comes after this?" 

Surprised, and fairly confused by the question, Kenta looks at him with the corners of his lips tugging downward. "What do you mean?"

"When we're done here... now that the show is over... what's going to happen?" As Kenta stares at him, Kenta realizes that Minhyun is genuinely nervous.  _What is going on?_

As Kenta recognizes his own doubts and insecurities in Minhyun's words, Kenta's heart starts to beat faster all over again. He can't think of what to say, but Minhyun continues, saving him for now. 

"I really liked spending time with you, and," —  _oh my god oh my god oh my god_ —"I'm scared that it'll just go back to how it was before."

'How it was before?' Does he mean when Minhyun didn't know Kenta existed? 

Kenta swallows thickly, several alarm bells going off in his head. One freaking out because Minhyun says he liked spending time with him, and the second, because he's implying that he wants to some more. Completely taken by surprise, Kenta's mouth goes dry but he manages to reply anyway: 

"What?"  _Stupid! Come up with something better to say!_ "I liked being with you, too." Kenta cringes at himself — but Minhyun's gaze flicks away from him and Kenta can swear he sees a red colour coming to his cheeks. "It doesn't have to go back," he says, his voice taking on breathy qualities as his racing heart makes him feel light-headed. "We can keep, um, hanging out, if you want?"

It's the boldest and most risky thing he's ever said and it doesn't even come  _near_ the kinds of things Sanggyun has told him to say but Kenta thinks his friends would be proud of him if they were here, anyway. Minhyun doesn't say anything right away, making Kenta feel like he's melting into the floor out of anxiety — until he nods a little. 

"I would like that," he answers in that shy voice again. Kenta is already ready to explode but then Minhyun speaks up one more time, looking down at him again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," Kenta answers too quickly, squeezing the life out of the poor trophy in his hands. 

"Do you remember me?"

Kenta's heart is pounding.  _What? What the hell?_ Isn't that supposed to be  _his_ line? What does this mean?

"Yes," the blonde answers slowly. "You helped me in class when I first started here... right?"

Minhyun's posture relaxes, seemingly relieved by his answer. "Oh, good, I thought you didn't recognize me."

Kenta's head is a mess of thoughts, and he shakes it vigorously as if trying to clear it. "No, of course I do, I-" he almost slips up and says something he'll regret, but he bites his tongue. He swallows, then continues after a second: "Didn't you forget about  _me?"_

Minhyun looks genuinely surprised by his question. "How? There's nothing forgettable about you."

Kenta nearly faints. 

There's a long moment where they just look at each other with confused expressions, Kenta's heart thumping painfully as everything he ever understood about him and Minhyun starts to come crashing down around him. 

Minhyun starts talking again, his voice quiet and uncertain as Kenta tries (and fails) to will the blush from spreading across his face and his ears. The lighting isn't as bright in here, so he knows it'll be obvious. "I know I got busy back then, but I didn't mean to stop talking to you," the taller boy explains softly. "I never explained why- I'm sorry for that. I wanted to get close with you again when I could, but it seemed like whenever I wanted to approach you, you would avoid me. I couldn't make eye contact with you. I honestly thought 'oh, he hates me now,' which would've been fair considering how distant I was."

Kenta's heart hurts remembering, the old ache mixing in with the new to make him feel like he might be suffocating. He says nothing, though, listening closely as Minhyun continues his story.

"You were getting closer to other people then, and I was happy for you, but," — everything is lining up with Kenta's point of view. Around when Minhyun got distant, Kenta met and got close to Sanggyun and Taehyun. "I got really, awfully jealous. I saw you talking and laughing with them at different places across the campus and I felt so bitter because you never smiled at me like that anymore." Here, Minhyun hesitates, drawing a breath.

"Then, this year, I walked in on you. I didn't know it was you when I heard the music outside, but when I came in, you noticed me. I was so nervous that I pretended I didn't know who you were, but then I realized you didn't act like you hated me at all. I told myself that you must've genuinely forgotten who I am because that was much, much easier to accept than the alternative." He lets out a breathless laugh. "So then I tried to play your song, hoping that it would give me a chance to get to know you again."

He goes quiet now, the blush on his face perfectly clear now. Kenta's chest rises and falls as he tries to take this all in. It's almost too much for him to process, and he feels like he's already forgotten half of the story, but the feeling sticks with him. The pain in his chest lightens a little as he thinks about it, as he realizes that Minhyun  _didn't_ forget who he was and that his memories of them aren't just his to hold onto alone anymore. 

"Sorry, I," Minhyun is mumbling, avoiding his gaze now. "I don't usually talk this much. I must sound crazy, because we didn't even know each other that well back then either, but I kept wishing that I could go back in time and be there for you like I should have been."

Kenta finally speaks up, blurting out without thinking: "I liked you." 

It's Minhyun's turn to look shocked. "What?"

"That's why I kept running away, because I really liked you back then." _It's now or never._ "And now, too."

Minhyun isn't saying anything, and Kenta starts to panic. _Stupid! Stupid!_ "I'm sorry, never mind, I shouldn't have said anything, I-"

While Kenta is trying to back-pedal on his words, Minhyun is stepping towards him, and before he can register what's happening, Minhyun is taking the trophy out of Kenta's hands and setting it on a nearby shelf, then wrapping his arms around him to pull him into a hug.

Kenta's head only reaches Minhyun's chest, but his eyes are wide as Minhyun holds him there. Kenta hesitates, then brings his arms up around his waist to hug him back. 

The hug only lasts for a few seconds, but it feels like forever. Kenta lets his eyes close, breathing in the scent of Minhyun's sweet cologne and he swears he can feel Minhyun's heart beating just as hard as his. 

Minhyun pulls away, holding Kenta at arm's length. "Can we start over again?" He asks, his voice soft.

Kenta pauses, then nods. "Okay," he answers, unable to stop the smile growing on his face.

 

_Falling slowly,_  
_Sing your melody,_  
_I'll sing along_

 

**Author's Note:**

> if you're curious about the song, it's it's from my favourite musical, a show called once!! the song is in english but for the sake of the AU imagine it's either a korean song, or kenta and minhyun can both sing in english fairly well.... its up to u.....
> 
> i personally think this is super cheesy and A Mess buT if you read this far then i hope you enjoyed it!! happy valentine's day everyone! ♡♡


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